Eastside Coach: 'Bad Luck' Cost Eagles 3A TItle

The look on Eastside senior Mitchell Lawson's face said it all.

He knew where he was standing — in the goalie box.

He knew what the referee's whistle meant — the handball had been spotted.

And with precious few minutes remaining in a scoreless 3A state title match, it appeared he knew what was coming next — a Chris MacMurray penalty kick would give Hilton Head a 1-0 victory and state title.

Just a couple minutes after, after the final whistle but before hands have been shaken and medals or trophies had been awarded, Lawson headed to the parking lot.

But he soon returned with senior Seth Greer and coach Nomar Rodriguez.

Rodriguez told Lawson not to let the "bad luck" ruin his high school career and all of the good of it. Lawson was where he was supposed to be — where the coach told him — and the ball had struck his hand inadvertently.

"He felt he lost the game for us," Rodriguez said after the match. "No one here feels that you were the one that lost the game... . Bad luck, basically. But, that happens."

Both teams had several scoring opportunities during the match, but neither could break through. A couple of corner kicks from both squads were grabbed by the goalies. A couple of mid-range shots flew over the crossbar — one hitting the crossbar.

Rodriguez said the first half was 50-50 between the two squads, but he thought his squad had the opportunities to win the title in the second half.

Rodriguez after the match huddled his players around him to tell them how proud he was of them and their season.

"Great guys, great kids," he told Patch. "They worked hard. They practiced hard. They played hard."